Contrivance for reversing the direction taken by gas of regenerative coke ovens



P 1936- P. VAN ACKEREN 2,054,183

CONTRIVANCE FOR REVERSING THE DIRECTION TAKEN BY GAS OF REGENERATIVECOKE OVENS Filed Aug. 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet, l

wwm r P. VAN ACKEREN CONTRIVANCE FOR REVERSING THE DIRECTION TAKEN BYGAS OF REG ENERATIVE COKE OVENS Filed Aug. 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2FTTOENEY Patented Sept. 15, I936 UNHTED STATES 2,054,183 CONTRIVANCE FORREVERSING THE DI- RECTION TAKEN B Y ATIVE COKE OVENS GAS OF REGENER-Paul Van Ackeren, Essen-Ruhr, Germany,v assigner, by mesne assi gnments,to The Koppers Company of Delaware, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofDelaware Application August 17, 1931, Serial No. 557,624

a In Germany August 18, 1930 2 Claims.

,The invention relates to contrivances for reversing the direction takenby gas in the case of ovens heated by gas or air preheated byregenerators and especially of ovens constructed for the production ofgas and coke, and more particularly to reversing contrivances in theconstruction of ovens provided with regenerators, which are heated bylean gas, for example producer gas.

In the working of ovens with regenerators, it is usual to periodicallychange the direction of flow of the heating gases and the air on the onehand and the waste gases on the other hand within the oven. For thispurpose, there are inserted valves in the connecting pipe lines betweenthe regenerator, on the one hand, and the waste gas channel and thegas'channel, on the other hand, which are preferably provided in acontrivance generally known by the name of knee piece which is alsoprovided, should the respective regenerators also be intended to servealternatively for preheating the air, with an extra alve for inflow ofair, which latter is controlled by a connection on the interior of theknee piece to control communication with the outside air.

It is already known, that in therunning of ovens with regeneratorsespecially coke ovens, the valves in the knee piece when the heating isreversed, have a distinct sequence, in order to avoid in the interior ofthe oven any losses of gas or possibly the formation of a mixture of airand gas, which is explosive.

This sequence can be more easily understood by reference to a coke ovenwith regenerators, which is fitted up with groups of four regeneratorseach, of which, in each working period, one serves for the preheating oflean gas, one for the preheating of the air, whereas in the same periodthe other two regenerators are heated by the passing through of thewaste gases; Inthis case, two regenerators on one side of a group areconnected up, each by one knee piece, one with the lean gas pipe lineand the other with the outer air, respectively. The two regenerators onthe other side of the group are connected, each by one knee piece, withthe waste heat channels. The openings to the waste heat channels, on theone hand, and the openings of the air and gas inlet pipe lines into theknee piece, on the other hand, are controlled by the valves providedtherefor, which, preferably from outside of each knee piece, are workedby a special contrivance, which is connected up in turn with a commonadjusting contrivance for all the valve operating mechanisms.

In one regenerator period, the valve for controlling the lean gas in oneknee piece is opened and the waste gas valve controlling the opening tothe waste gas channel, is closed, whereas in the neighbouring kneepiece, which is connected with the regenerator for the air, the airvalve is open and the Waste gas valve is closed. In the two knee piecesthrough which the waste gases pass, the air and lean gas valves areclosed and, on the other hand, the waste gas valves are opened. When,during the running of the plant, it is re quired to change the directionof the heating in the heating fiues of the coke ovens, then first of allthe gas valve through which the lean gas is passing must be closed.After this has been done, simultaneously the air valve has to be closedin the knee piece which up to then has been filled with air, and thewaste gas valve has to be opened; furthermore, the knee piece throughwhich, up to the present, the waste gases have passed and through whichthe air is to be led during the following working period, must have itswaste gas valve closed and its air valve opened and furthermore,simultaneously during these adjustments, the waste heat valve is openedin the knee piece through which the lean gas formerly passed, and thewaste heat valve closed in the knee piece through which, in the nextworking period, the lean gas is to pass. After the termination of thesimultaneously effected reversing of the air and waste heat valves, thegas valve is to be opened in the knee piece through which, during thefollowing period, the lean gas is to pass. In thismanner, in all of theknee pieces, which is necessary to obtain the desired reversal indirection of flow of heating gas for the heating of the oven, isattained.

To bring about the desired sequence of movements, which is comparativelycomplicated during the reversing of the gas-, airand waste heat valvesin the knee pieces, the arrangement for governing the individual valvesup to the present time comprised various pulling arrangements, andspecial wire ropes and the necessary winches had to be arranged toconnect up all the gas, air, and Waste heat valves, with a rope winch,provided at the top end of the battery. Moreover, the working of the airand waste heat valves has been effected by means of a common rope and acommon rope winch, to adjust the same as already described and achievesimultaneously the reversing of the heating arrangement.

Up to the present, for the working of the rope winches one proceeded inthe following manner, a workman sets each one in action one after theother. This process is, however, disadvantageous in as much as one hasthus been compelled to rely simply on the trustworthiness of the workmenin question, in respect of the regularity of 'the reversal as well asthe exact, carrying out of the sequence of the adjustment of the valves.

' the winches into connection with a guiding gear; in which event thevarious rope winches were to It had been proposed indeed to bring thedriving contrivances for the'various adjustments of be set in action inthe desired sequence by one single driving organism. Such guiding anddriving arrangements prove, however, in their con-' struction to beexceedingly complicated and expensive and are very sensitive to outsideinfluences, which in the case of the comparatively rough working in therunning of a coking plant represent a great disadvantage.

For this purpose according to the invention there is arranged betweenthe common pulling carrying out the cardinal features of the inventivecontrivance for all'the knee pieces and/ or an adidea.

- and theworking arrangements belonging to the The object of theinvention is, furthermore, to achieve a special distribution of theconnecting links between the gas, air and waste gas valves According totheinvention, shaft knee piece therefor. there rests on the knee piece aworking connected by a lever with the reversing chain or the like, whichshaft is fittedup with various arms, connected each with one of thevalves in the knee piece by a pulling arrangement yieldable in onedirection. According'to the invention, the

' pulling organism consists preferably, of one yield- 7 able in onedirection, in a'piston sliding in a tube extension of thevalve shaft ofwhich the piston rod is connected with a lever belonging to the ragainst the lower side of the'cap and so that on' 'further raisingthe'piston against the cap the a connecting piece working shaft bymeans'o f a chain or an equivalent. pull arrangement, in which thelength of this connecting chain can be modified by suitable means, forexample by adjusting screws provided 'onthelever of theworking shaft. Inthe case of this ,contrivance the tubelike extension of the .valve'shaftis closed'atits upper end' by a cap,

and the DlSlJOn'fittSd in the interior of the shaft extension is soplaced that it may moveupwards valve belonging to it, is taken alongwith it.

In many casesit maybe of advantage to employ, instead of the workingshaft equalizing piston in a tubelike extension of the valve shaft,

. essentially the. connecting chain or another yieldable pullingorganism between the raising arm of the lever of the working shaft andthe valve and yieldable in one direction of f the said two organisms.

Further objects of the present invention concern the use of'the novelknee pieces of the ovens heated by gas or air preheated by regeneratorsfor the production of gas and coke and the'means in connection with sameto; preserve the heating sequence i. e. the reversing of the valves inchanging over of the direction of flow of the heating gas;

ment of the piston ii,

With these and other objects of the invention in view I will nowdescribe a preferred construction of the invention shown on theaccompanying drawings. 7

On the drawings there is shown in Figure 1 a vertical section of theknee piece formed according to the invention viz. on the line I-I of theFigure 4.

Fig. 2 is a side View and Fig. of the knee piece of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of the Figure 1.

Fig. shows on an enlarged scale the form of 3 an upper view the'meansfor raising andlowering of the valve discs 7 V The knee piece shown inFig.. 1 consists of a casing I, on the side of which a horizontal pipebranch 2 is provided piece with the regenerators and below which avertical pipe branch 3 is provided for connecting the knee piece withthe waste gas channel. Opposite to where the pipe branch 2 opens, intothe knee piece casing i, a lean gas pipe branch 4 is connected withwhich the lean gas pipe line, not shown in the drawings,isalsoconnected. The pipe branch 4 is provided on. the inside of thecasing with a pipe extension 5 which opens out into the casing aboveforming a valve seat 6' as can be seen from Fig. 1. In this connectionit may be mentioned that the opening of the lean' gas pipe extension 5lies in the casing, as can be seen from Figure 4, on the side near tothe opening, andis likewise formed as avalve seat like valve seat 1 ofthe waste gas pipe branch 3.

The knee piece casing l'is, moreover, provided opposite the pipe branch2, with an opening 9 which can be closed by the cover 8 and whichpermits of the cleaning out of the pipe branch 2 and of the channelconnecting with the same and leading to the regenerator and this duringthe working of the knee piece.

for connecting the knee For closing the pipe branches 3 and 4 from the 7The valve vided with a tubelike extension l2 which passes through anopening I5 of the casing cover fitted with a labyrinth packing andserves to render the packing more efiective. The end of the pipeextension l2 projecting'out from the casing'has a cap 16 with a thread,throughthe center hole of which passes piece l8 fitted in the interiorof the tube. extension The piston piece It! is 7 end position it liesagainst the inside of the thread cap I6, sothat in case of a greaterupward'moveand likewise the valve disc H) are moved upwards. At itsouter projecting end the piston rod I7 is provided further with an eyeE9, the importance of which will be explained later.

a In a similar manner, as the valve disc ID, the

double valve disc 1 i is also fitted with a shaft 20 to the upper partof which a pipe extension 2! is connected, which' passes through apacking sleeve'22 fitted in the cover of the knee piece casing i andcarries outside the casing I a threaded cap 23. In the interior of thepipe extension there the pipe extension 12' the holdingrod ll of apiston I2 and movable in a longitudinal direction; so formed that in itstop is arranged a movable bearing piston 24, the piston rod 250i whichpasses through an opening in the closing cap 23 and bears an eye 26 onthe outside.

For moving the two valve discs II! and II there serves a shaft 28resting on a bearing block 21 fitted on the cover of knee piece casing Iwhich supports lever arms 29 and 39 above each of the connecting eyes I9and 26 of the valve discs I and II. These two lever arms are formed likea sector and have a groove 3| for taking the connecting chain 32, 33,fixed by means of screws 3 and 35 on to the sector levers 29 and 30respectively. These connecting chains 32 and 33 carry at their free endshooks 36 and 3'I' with which they suspend their respective valve shafteyes I 9 and 25.

Furthermore, the working shaft 28 supports still further a lever arm 38reaching upwards which at the end is shaped in the form of a fork and onwhich the adjusting rail 59 of the changeover contrivance, not shown inthe drawings, grips.

The manner of working of the knee piece,

shown in the drawings, proceeds approximately in the following manner.

Starting from the position of the valves shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thevalve disc I0 is sunk i. e. the lean gas pipe line is shut ofi, thevalve disc I! is, however, raised i. e. the regenerator is connected upwith the waste heat channel. This position of the valves corresponds tothe position of the shaft 28 shown in Fig. 2 as well as to the positionof the gliding pistons in the tube extensions of the valve shafts shownin Fig. 5. It may be seen from the above named illustrations that in thecase of the position of the valves indicated, the piston I8 of the valvedisc IE3 is in its lower end position so that the valve disc liesclosely on the surface of the seat 6, whereas the piston 24 is in itsupper end position in which it lies against the shut-off cap 23 of thevalve shaft tube extension and, at the same time, the valve disc IIremains above its valve seat in suspension, so that the waste gases fromthe regenerator through the tube branch 2 may pass over in the branchtube 3 of the knee piece.

If it is intended that the paths taken by the gas in the knee piece bechanged over i. e. the lean gas pipe line then is to be connected upwith the regenerators which have been preheated by the heat of the wastegases and the waste heat channel is to be closed off against theregenerator, then the working lever 38 of the working shaft 28 is swungover slowly to the right in the position indicated in Fig. 2. In thisconnection the valve disc I I is pushed downwards to such an extent thatit rests firmly on its sealing surface I, whereas at the same time thepiston I8 in the pipe extension I2 of the valve disc I9 glides upwards.The tube extension I2 has, in this case, such a length that shortlyafter the valve disc II rests on its sealing surface, the piston I 8impinges the connecting cap I6 of the pipe extension I2. Consequentlywhen the working lever 38 or in case of the working shaft 28 is furtherturned round, the valve Id of the piston I8 is taken along and movedupwards, liberating the opening of the tube extension so that the leangas can enter into the knee piece and from there pass through theregenerator. During the upward movement of the valve disc I0, the piston28 in the pipe extension 2| of the valve disc II glides downwards. As isseen, the reversing of the direction of the gases closes off, first ofall both paths of the gas, before it is possible to obtain the newdirection of movement of the gas, especially avoiding any opening of thelean gas pipe line taking. place before the waste heat channel is closedoff and, in this way, also preventing the undesirable losses of gaswhich up to the present have always taken place in the case of lean gasovens, when the direction of the heating gasses is changed. The kneepiece, shown in Figs. 1-5, can also be made use of if the ovens areheated with rich gas. In such a case all the regenerators of the ovenserve, as usual, only for the heating I of the combustion air andaccordingly also all knee pieces must be so arranged that it is possibleto suck in the combustion air into the regenerators. For this purpose,there is provided an opening 3% on the cover of the knee piece casing Ion the side near to the bearing bracket 21 of the working shaft 28,which can be closed by means of a flap 45. The flap it? is fittedloosely by means of a bolt 2i to a lever 32 which is rested on-aprojection of the cover 43 of the knee piece casing by means of a bolt44 with a joint.

When making use of the knee piece described above for use in supplyinglean gas for lean gas heating, the air flap as already mentioned isclosed and secured in its closed position by an adjusting screw 46gripping on the free somewhat extended end 3-5 of the lever 42 andthreaded through a latch piece 47 which can be turned over. Should,however, the knee piece be utilized for air during heating with rich gasthen the safety screw 46 after being loosened from the end 55 of thelever 62 is swung off, so that the lever of the flap can be movedupwards and downwards. Furthermore, the chain 32 may be lifted out ofthe eye E9 of the shaft of the valve I0 and may be slipped into a hook58 provided on the lever 42, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, l

in s eh a way that when the working shaft 28 at any time is set inmotion, the air flap M! is opened or closed instead of the valve I 0.

The invention as hereinabove set forth is embodied in a particular formof construction, but may be variously embodied within the scope of theclaims hereinafter made.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for reversing the direction of gases in regenerative ovenscomprising: a flow box casing; a gas inlet valve and a waste gas outletvalve therefor within the flow box casing; both valves being actuated bya common mechanism outside the casing; connections between both valvesand the actuating mechanism, said connections comprising oppositelymovable means outside the flow box casing for effecting the reversalmovement of the valves, said connections including for each valve achain individual thereto and outside the casing and firmly connected tothe oppositely movable means and fixed to a lost motion devicecomprising a piston pull rod slidably guided for limited relativemovement within a. piston cylinder likewise slidably extending into theinterior of the casing through a guiding bushing in the flow box casingand the piston cylinder being fitted to the valve inside the casingwhereby the lost motion device is centered by the casing and itselfcenters the valve inside the casing when actuated by the actuatingmechanism outside the casing.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and in which the limiting means forthe limited relative movement of the piston pull rod relative to thepiston cylinder comprises a removable piece fitted on the pistoncylinder.

PAUL VAN ACKEREN.

